Disney confirmed that it received a “call in” for its owned and operated station licenses for early renewal from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Tuesday, days after Jimmy Kimmel’s on‑air joke about first lady Melania Trump having “the glow of an expectant widow.”
In a statement emailed to Newsweek on Tuesday, Disney said: “We have received the Federal Communications Commission’s order initiating an accelerated review of the licenses held by ABC’s owned television stations. ABC and its stations have a long record of operating in full compliance with FCC rules and serving their local communities with trusted news, emergency information, and public‑interest programming.
“We are confident that record demonstrates our continued qualifications as licensees under the Communications Act and the First Amendment and are prepared to show that through the appropriate legal channels. Our focus remains, as always, on serving viewers in the local communities where our stations operate.”
The licenses were originally scheduled to be renewed between 2028 and 2031, a spokesperson said.
Trump pressed ABC on Monday to fire the host of the late-night show Jimmy Kimmel Live! over the joke, which aired on Thursday, two days before a shooting at the Washington Hilton, where President Donald Trump and several Cabinet officials were attending the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
Newsweek reached out to the FCC for comment via email.
Why It Matters
The FCC’s move to pull forward all Disney/ABC station licenses for early review comes at a moment of heightened sensitivity around political speech and media criticism. Early license reviews are rarely invoked against major broadcasters.
First Amendment advocates warn that initiating such a review immediately after a political controversy risks blurring the line between legitimate oversight and punitive action tied to protected speech.
The FCC generally avoids actions that could be viewed as chilling protected expression. Therefore, any real consequences for Kimmel’s show are more likely to come from network management, advertisers or public backlash, not federal regulators.
What To Know
On the April 23 episode of his show, Kimmel, who has a long history of clashing with the president, joked about imagining himself as the emcee at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Pretending to address the first lady, he said: “Our first lady, Melania, is here. Look at Melania, so beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow.” He also cracked jokes about the president’s health and age.
On Saturday night, a suspect identified as Cole Tomas Allen, armed with guns and knives, breached security at the hotel and opened fire, one floor above the ballroom, from where the Secret Service evacuated Trump, the first lady and members of his Cabinet. Allen, 31, was later charged with the attempted assassination of the president.
Following backlash over the joke, Kimmel said he was sorry for what the president and first lady experienced but defended the joke and didn’t apologize when he addressed it on his show Monday. He said the bit was not a call to violence but commentary on the president’s age.
The National Religious Broadcasters Association (NRB) filed a complaint with the FCC over Kimmel’s joke. CNN reported that the FCC’s action is being prepared amid the dispute, even as officials insist the review is tied to a separate inquiry into Disney’s internal practices.
The FCC has not used early‑renewal powers against a major broadcaster in decades, though it issued a similar order against a small license holder just one day earlier. ABC’s licenses cover some of the country’s largest markets, so the process could be lengthy, expensive and closely watched across the industry.
Disney defended its record, saying that ABC operates “in full compliance with FCC rules,” adding: “We are confident that record demonstrates our continued qualifications as licensees under the Communications Act and the First Amendment and are prepared to show that through the appropriate legal channels.”
Inside the FCC, the lone Democratic commissioner, Anna M. Gomez, warned about political violence being used as a “pretext for silencing speech.”
“As we have seen after previous acts of political violence, we cannot allow this tragedy to become a pretext for silencing speech, even speech we find objectionable. An event meant to honor the freedom of the press must never become a justification for undermining it,” Gomez wrote on X.
White House Director of Communications Steven Cheung called Kimmel a “s*** human being” in a post on X Tuesday, saying: “ABC needs to fire him immediately and he should be shunned for the rest of his life.”
In a statement emailed to Newsweek on Tuesday, Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) Chief of Advocacy Seth Stern said: “The First Amendment and the FCC’s mandate do not permit the agency to use broadcast licenses as weapons to punish broadcasters for constitutionally protected content they air.”
“[FCC Chairman] Brendan Carr was once a serious communications lawyer and has repeatedly and correctly said that the FCC has no role in policing content, whether news reporting or comedians’ late-night jokes,” Stern said. “Carr’s decision to abandon his principles to kiss up to Trump to advance his career does not change the law that Carr knows full well applies.
“The FCC is neither the journalism police nor the humor police. This is nothing but illegal jawboning intended to intimidate ABC into kissing the ring.”
What Happens Next
The early‑renewal order means Disney will enter a multi‑stage administrative process that could stretch months or years. The company is now required to submit detailed filings, respond to public objections and undergo formal review by FCC staff and commissioners.
Legal experts told CNN that ABC’s licenses are unlikely to be revoked.
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